The Legend of Lady Godiva: Depictions in Art, Literature, and History

The scandalous tale of Lady Godiva’s ride has been in circulation for nearly ten centuries. In that time, it has provided inspiration for innumerable poets, painters, and sculptors. Inevitably, Lady Godiva is depicted as naked on horseback, covered only by her long hair, as she rides through the town of Coventry. But did such a ride ever take place? According to some sources it did.

The legend was first recorded in Roger of Wendover’s 13th century Flores Historiarum (Flowers of History). Since then, it has been listed as fact in several other historical texts, including both Charles Knight’s A History of England and Chambers’ Encyclopaedia.

Lady Godiva by William Holmes Sullivan, 1877

According to the legend, Lady Godiva was so distressed about the high taxes levied on the citizens of Coventry that she appealed to her husband, Leofric, Earl of Mercia, to give them relief. In response to her plea, Leofric informed her that he would not lower taxes unless she stripped naked and rode through the town on horseback. Taking him at his word, Lady Godiva did just that.

In more recent years, the tale has come to be regarded as “Only one of many legends of the Middle Ages—a relic of the simplicity and credulity of our early ancestors.” The 1888 issue of American Notes and Queries has a particularly compelling rationalization for the legend. It reads in part:

“Coventry, or Coventria, was a village so named because a convent, of which Saint Osburga formerly was Abbess, existed there; it was burned down when Eadrick ravaged the country.

“This spot had become the property of Earl Leofric, and he chose the site of the ruined convent, at the earnest solicitation of [Lady] Godiva, for the building of a magniﬁcent abbey. The determination once formed, the muniﬁcent founders lost no time in putting their design into execution; for Oderic Vitalis records that Lady Godiva gave to the good work all her treasures, and sending for goldsmiths she devoutly distributed all the gold and silver that she possessed, to make the sacred books, and texts, and crosses, and images of saints, and other marvelous church furniture. She also endowed the convent with much land and possessions, both in that and other parts of the country. In a word, she literally denuded or stripped herself of all her possessions to build this convent. This was in 1043 or 1044.”

Lady Godiva by Edmund Blair Leighton, 1891.

Another version of this explanation reads:

“The people were heavily taxed with sin, and felt the weight thereof; they cried out for relief which could only be had by religious teaching. Churches were necessary for this religious teaching, and Lady Godiva, from the goodness of her heart, and, in loving sympathy for these people, appealed to her husband, Earl Leofric, for relief for them, by erecting a church. The earl responded that if she had such sympathy and would prove it by stripping herself of all her luxuries and earthly possessions, and so go through life, he would build the convent with them, and thus relieve the people. The result was one of the grandest churches of that time.”

Lady Godiva by Marshall Claxton, 1850.

To make the people appreciate the great personal sacrifice made by Lady Godiva in stripping herself of all her possession in order to fund a church, the priests illustrated the story with a picture that represented a woman riding naked through the streets. It was this picture which caught the imagination of future historians, like 13th century chronicler Roger of Wendover, as well as artists like John Collier and poets like Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

What do you think? Is the Legend of Lady Godiva based on fact? Or are the depictions of her naked on horseback a mere symbol of her great personal sacrifice to build one of the grandest churches of her time? Let me know in the comments! In the meanwhile, I leave you with Tennyson’s famous poem, Godiva (1840).

Mimi Matthews is the author of The Pug Who Bit Napoleon: Animal Tales of the 18th and 19th Centuries (to be released by Pen and Sword Books in November 2017). She researches and writes on all aspects of nineteenth century history—from animals, art, and etiquette to fashion, beauty, feminism, and law.

I’m inclined to think that the stripping of her possessions is more likely. Leofric wouldn’t want even a chance of anyone else looking upon a possession that was purely his. It’s a charming legend, and up there with the lady who was promised as common land for the people as much land as she could encompass with the hide of an ox, and in cutting it into thin strips laid it round the edge of I think 2 caracutes [but it’s a long time since I read it so I may be wrong and that’s an awful lot of land…]

Thanks for commenting, Sarah! I agree with the stripping of the possessions theory. It made a lot of sense to me, as opposed to those who assert it was a pagan ritual or something to that effect. Ironically, sometimes the most commonsense explanations are buried in obscure history books or academic journals. Perhaps the truth is simply not as attractive as the legend?

Dear Mimi, I find the whole story of Lady Godiva very fascinating and think that there is probably some truth in most legends. From a historical point of view, especially with regard to English law, a woman, when she married, became her husband’s “possession” with no legal rights whatsoever. It is unlikely that Leofric would allow his beautiful wife to ride naked in the streets – totally vulnerable – and at risk of being “acquired” by another man. Of course, perhaps Lady Godiva was an intelligent, independent-minded woman like Joan of Arc, or Queen Elizabeth I, who rode her horse… Read more »

Thank you for such a thoughtful comment, Sarah. I think you are exactly right in saying that Leofric would not allow his wife to ride naked through the streets. I think it is far more likely that the whole legend derived from Lady Godiva’s selfless act of stripping herself of her worldly goods. It is a shame that we will never know the whole story, but at least we can now remember her for a bit more than a single scandalous act which likely never even happened.